Michael Bloomberg

Sandy, the Frankenstorm, lived up to her nickname on Monday as the monster storm slammed into the Jersey Shore and caused massive damage across much of the East Coast.

Deaths related to the killer storm were reported in seven states and in Canada. At least 10 people are dead in New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg reported on Tuesday morning, and he feared the toll will climb as rescue efforts continue.

“This was a devastating storm,” Bloomberg said. “This is maybe the worst we have ever seen.”

Microsoft Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates, and his wife Melinda, have donated an additional $500,000 to the campaign to uphold Washington's state's marriage equality law.

The announcement Tuesday comes from Washington United for Marriage, the broad coalition working to approve Referendum 74, the November ballot initiative that will ask voters to approve or reject the same-sex marriage law passed in the legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire earlier this year.

WASHINGTON — Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide, today launched Mayors for the Freedom to Marry at a news conference held during the 80th annual U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting.

Mayors for the Freedom to Marry is a bipartisan group of 80 mayors who have pledged to support the freedom of same-sex couples to marry.
“If we truly believe in family values, we should value all families,” said Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, Mayors for the Freedom to Marry chair and president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

WASHINGTON – San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders has been named co-chair of the new marriage-equality group, Mayors for the Freedom to Marry.

“I am proud to be a co-chair of Mayors for the Freedom to Marry," Sanders told San Diego Gay & Lesbian News. "Together, we will work to expand public and political support for marriage equality until every American has the legal right to marry the person they love.”